How often do you see interesting, original paperwork included with a car at a car show?
Better yet, isn’t it a relief to see stacks of mileage logs and service notes when buying a used car?
Yes, even in the digital age, keeping physical documentation is not only nostalgic, it’s really important too.
Now, don’t fret if you’ve owned your car for a while and have already tossed some receipts and brochures, because the good news is, it’s never too late to gather information and documentation for your vehicles—be it show car, race car, or a simple daily driver.
Look around, and you’ll notice that many well-kept cars, trucks, and SUVs—classic or otherwise—will have a good paper trail behind them. This trail will show the history of the vehicle, care and maintenance records, and insight into any modifications or service.
In other words, it tells the vehicle’s story—and that matters a lot.
The Importance of a Vehicle’s History & Proper Documentation
How often have you wanted to buy a car, and the owner claims they’ve done significant modifications to the vehicle—yet, they don’t have any invoices, install instructions, or heck, something as vital as a cam card, to support what they’ve done.
Or has a seller ever claimed the vehicle has some provenance? Perhaps a famous celebrity owner or a large spread in a popular car magazine?
Without a paper trail, those claims are difficult to support.
This is where you can start with your own car.
Get a simple notebook and some clear page sleeves, then assemble what info you have. We’ve talked about some common things that you’ll want to include like cam cards, invoices, and sales documents already, but there are plenty of other good things you may want to include:
- Historical photos (say, at a dragstrip or in the dealer lot)
- Brochures, advertisements & marketing materials on your specific car
- Period magazine articles on your specific model
- Installation instructions
- Receipts, warranties & invoices
- Paint color codes & chip charts
- Mileage logs & service records
- Business cards from anyone who’s worked on the vehicle
- Recall notices
You can put all this together and it will take away most of the mystery of what you have done. More importantly, it will show how you’ve cared for the vehicle and it gives folks information and insight on your car that they may not find any other way.
Actually, I have several books on my vehicles.
In fact, I made one for my Fiero that’s just for car shows and display purposes. It tells the car’s story and documents many for the rare prototype parts installed on it. (Again, not to humblebrag, but since my car wears some unusual upgrades, I often get asked about their specific histories. I enjoy answering questions, but sometimes I’m not around, and it often helps to have the pictures to further tell the complete story.) This “show” binder includes things like instructions, sales ads, and even blueprints for the parts. I also included some magazine features on my car.
It also has the build sheet, original sales form, and even instructions on any parts I’ve added along the way. It is mounted to a cutting board, and it straddles my trunk where show goers (as well as judges, wink-wink) can gather more info on the car.
I’ve also started a new book for my latest project, a C5 Corvette. It documents what I have done to the car and what modifications were made prior to my ownership. I also have the car’s history documented back to the time it was built. I’m not thinking about selling it anytime soon, but if I ever do, this literature will help immensely.
My daily driver truck even has its own book—I’ve added logs of oil changes and any other service done. I put in the instructions for the bed cover and other things I have added that may be useful in the future—for instance, say I need to remove the cover temporarily to transport something big, having the original paper instructions can eliminate a lot of removal/install hassle.
A final final recommendation would be to make two books for a show car:
One to take to the show with photocopies of those original documents, and another notebook with the legit originals to keep at home. That way, the original paperwork is kept safe from fingerprints, rain, and sun-soak.
Tip: If you are racing, you can show the book to officials if they request a looksee. But do not display the book to the competition—you don’t want to give away your advantages!
The bottom line is that a well-kept and organized documentation binder like this serves a few important purposes.
Sure it looks cool and has some serious sentimental benefit—but all that vital information can also come in very, very handy when doing future service, and it adds a ton of value if you ever decide to sell the vehicle.
Comments